


McTavish in the Kitchen

by awkward_radar_tech



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cooking, F/M, Fluff, he is a good teacher, his conscious is a sassy mid-day cooking show host, william is kind but awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 02:36:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17458997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkward_radar_tech/pseuds/awkward_radar_tech
Summary: After being paired with you in his cooking class so you could get extra help, William finds out that you play Fortnite. When he realizes he learns through his experiences, he invites you over to teach him in exchange for a homemade dinner.





	McTavish in the Kitchen

**Author's Note:**

> First fic of the new year!!! 1 wip down 5 more to go. This fic is written more from William’s perspective because I found it hard to write a reader that doesn’t know how to cook since I do. If it flows funky, I’m sorry, my brain is stupid and don’t always notice, or think it is but it actually isn’t.
> 
> **Prompt, from my lovely uni-anon 🦄 on tumblr:** The reader could be at the same cooking class and not be very good at it as well so she gets paired with William. She finds out he’s trying to learn Fornite for his son, which she is an expert at! He asks her to teach him exchanged for a home cooked meal. When there at his place she hears him muttering to himself out of habit like he’s on a cook show and then he gets all embarrassed!

Every Thursday night for the past 3 months, William McTavish has been at the same place, the local community college. He saw a flyer posted around town that they were beginning to hold cooking classes in the culinary institute kitchens for adults who wanted to learn to cook full meals. For only $40 you could attend a month of classes where you would learn to make a different meal each week, and that each month had a different cuisine theme so the dishes weren’t repeated month to month, and it didn’t matter how skilled you were in the kitchen, you just had to bring your own knives.

His skills had improved over the time he took the class, his food finally tasted delicious to go along with the technical excellence that he had before. This lead to him being paired with a truly beginner cook on the first Thursday of his fourth month by the instructors. William felt great pride that the instructors felt he was adept enough to provide extra help to a novice, he just hoped he could actually help her.

When you signed up for cooking classes, there was a questionnaire asking about your skills and experience cooking, and being honest you put that the most you were capable of was warming up premade foods. At the first class you weren’t expected to be paired with a veteran of the class so he could help you when an instructor couldn’t. You took it in stride and told yourself getting help from 4 people will surely improve your talent in the kitchen.

You walked over to the front, left station and introduced yourself to your partner, “Uhh, hi, I’m (y/n). They told me I am to work with you so you can help me since I really don’t know what I’m doing.”

He looked up from the recipe card and turned to face you, “Hello, (y/n), I’m William. I’m not sure the quality of my teaching skills, but I will do my best.”

You set your stuff down and looked over the recipe while waiting for the instruction to begin. You were happy you chose to start this month with Italian than next month with Mexican, boiling pasta and making a sauce is simple enough. While you were using dried pasta, you were making the sauce and rolls from scratch.

The class still hadn’t begun when William spoke to you again, “I know you said you didn’t really know anything, but you do know how to turn on an oven and a stove, and how to boil water along with pasta, right? I want to know where I need to begin.”

“I know how to turn things on, and how to boil water, but when I make pasta it is either too mushy or uncooked in the center.”

“Alright. Figuring out when pasta is al dente takes a bit of practice.”

“I hope I won’t be too much of a bother to you, William.”

“Don’t worry about it. When I started these classes I could make things well technically, but they tasted bland or out right horrid. I’ve gotten better these past few months.”

Then the instructors were moving to the front of the room to begin the class. William did in fact show you how to test the doneness of your pasta, and you were proud that you were able to chop garlic by yourself after the instructor taught the class. At the end of the class you were surprised at how well your meal tasted, and that you helped make it. After packing away your things you pulled out your keys, putting your pinky through the keyring like normal, and waved goodbye to William.

“Thank you so much for your help, William. Have a good night and see you next week.”

He was ready to respond but then had to take a pause when he saw your keychain, “Uh, yeah, no problem. Good night. See you next week.”

He was pretty sure that you had a Fortnite character on your keychain, but he wasn’t sure and didn’t want to keep you any longer by asking, but he told himself he would ask next week.

The next week when William walked in his usual 30 minutes early to help set up he was surprised to see you already at the station speaking with one of the instructors.

You turned when you heard footsteps and immediately perked up and waved to William, “Hi William! It looks like you have a lot more to help me with this week, we’re making chicken parm. How was your week?”

He couldn’t help but smile a bit at your excitement, “Hello, (y/n). My week was alright, nothing out of the norm happened. How was your’s?”

“It was good. I had my best friend over and made him the recipe from last week. He liked it and was surprised I was learning to cook.”

“That is great. Hey, I have a quick question. Last week when you said goodbye, you had your keys in your hand, and I thought your keychain was familiar. Was that a character from Fortnite?”

“Oh, yeah, it is. Do you play?”

“Kind of. I’m trying to learn so I can play with my son Miles when he is over. He plays it a lot with his stepdad Rick so I figured I could too. I’ve been playing for a couple of weeks off and on, but I can’t seem to get the hang of it, and I don’t want to play with Miles until I’m good at it.”

“That is sweet. I’m practically pro, I can give you some tips on what to do.”

“That sounds great. Thank you.”

“It only seems fair since you are helping me with this.”

The rest of the night went by with each taking turns to explain their specialty, although William struggled to grasp the tips he was getting since he wasn’t in front of the game. By the end of the night he had conceded to his inability to understand the help he was given.

“Hey, (y/n), thank you for all the information tonight. There is just one problem, I can’t remember a thing you said since I wasn’t playing the game at the same time.” He paused for a moment in embarrassment and shyness, “Do you think you could maybe, if you’re comfortable with it, I understand if you say no, could you maybe come over to my apartment to reteach me everything while playing? I’ll make dinner.”

You were shocked by the question and took a moment to process what he said before answering, “Uhh, yeah, I can come over one night to show you what to do. I’m free Tuesday night. What time do you want me to be there?”

“How about 6?” He grabbed your copy of the recipe and a nearby pencil and wrote in the notes section, “Here is my number and address. Text me if something comes up. Also there are guest spots in the back of the building if there is no parking out front.”

“6 works great, William. See you on Tuesday, have a nice weekend.”

“You too.”

William spent the next few days worrying every time his phone vibrated from an incoming text that it was you texting to cancel, and deciding what to cook. You didn’t tell him about any dietary restrictions so he decided a simple steak dinner would suffice. On Monday night after work he went shopping for what he needed.

Roaming through the store he was a bit on auto-pilot and not completely paying attention to what he was doing, so his internal monologue became whispered to himself. “For a nice, juicy steak you want a good ratio of fat to meat. These right here seem perfect.” “A nice garlic butter is a must. I like to make my own but store bought is fine.” “I like to cook fresh broccoli but you can use frozen in the recipe too.” “To add variety to my roast potatoes, I’m grabbing a few purple ones. It will add a little pop of color.” “I would normally make my own salad, dressing, and croutons, but I’m lazy today so a premade bag of greens and store bought croutons and dressing will do just fine.” “And for dessert I think cookies, ice cream, and all the toppings will be great. Nothing too complicated. I’m getting premade dough so I can just pop them right in the oven when we are ready for them and have nice fresh cookies without much effort.”

When he got home he made the marinade for his steaks and set them in the fridge before attempting to understand Fortnite again. After becoming frustrated he switched over to watching Netflix before going to bed.

William got to work early on Tuesday so he could leave with enough time to get a majority of his cooking completed before you arrived. As he was heading to his car his phone began to ring, it was his ex-wife.

He begrudgingly answered it knowing she would only call if she really needed his help, “Hey, what’s up?”

To his surprise she sounded slightly distressed, “Hi William. Are you able to leave work and get Miles? My car broke down and he needs to be picked up from school before 5. Rick is out of town on a business trip or else he would be getting him. He is fine being home alone for a bit so you can just drop him off.”

“It is your lucky day, I’m actually leaving work now since I got in early. I’ll go get him, and I’ll text you when he has been dropped off.”

“Thank you so much William. You’re a lifesaver.”

And with that she hung up. There went his plans of being almost finished cooking by the time you got there, he wasn’t going to be home until 5:45, 5:30 if he was lucky. He was happy to see Miles, though, so it was worth it.

As he sat watching Miles walk up to and unlock the front door, he pulled out his phone to text that Miles was home safe, and a moment after he sent it he got a text back. He was confused for a moment when there was no new message from his ex, until he checked his notifications and saw it was from a new number, you. He was thankful when your message said you would be at his home a bit after six since you worked a bit later than expected, but you were leaving now. He quickly sent a text in response and then text his ex before safely rushing back home.

He had just put the potatoes in the oven after washing and cutting them when you knocked on his door. As he opened the door to greet you, he froze in shock at how you were dressed. Since he only had seen you twice and in casual clothes, he definitely wasn’t expecting you to be in a skirt suit. He had thought that is what you wore to work, since he didn’t know what you did.

William quickly recovered from his shock and properly welcomed you, “Hello, (y/n). Please make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you. Sorry for being late, a few programs took a bit longer processing than expected.”

“That is alright, I’m further behind in cooking than I wanted to be. I got out of work at an earlier time, but had to go get my son from school and take him home because his mom’s car broke down and her husband is out of town.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at your own response, “Dad to the rescue!”

“Yeah, I guess that is true.”

“So, Chef William, what are we having tonight? And do you need help with any of it.”

“We are having steaks with garlic butter, roasted potatoes, and some perfectly made broccoli. And for dessert, warm cookie sundaes. And no, I got it, you’re here to enjoy food and teach me video games.”

“That sounds delicious. Where is your bathroom? I want to change into some comfy clothes, I can only handle so much time in a suit.”

“It is right over there. And feel free to play any games or watch something while I cook. I’ll be out when possible.”

Soon after you emerged from the bathroom he heard the unmistakable sounds of Fortnite coming from his living room. As he fell into his rhythm while washing, chopping, and then cooking the broccoli, he began his mostly subconscious habit. “Most vegetables actually are amazing side dishes when prepared correctly, especially broccoli. There is no making Brussels sprouts and spinach better for my taste buds, though, and peas must be mixed with other things so I can ignore them.” “My secret weapon in cooking almost anything is garlic. If garlic can’t fix it, nothing can.” “Broccoli has always been one of my favorite vegetables, I feel like a giant eating little tiny trees.” “So now that we have cut up this big broccoli into little broccolis, it is time for the blanching. Remember to have your bowl of ice water ready to stop the cooking.” “After it has had time to cool, remove the broccoli and toss with melted garlic butter, then place on a roasting sheet to roast for a bit in the oven with our beautiful potatoes.” “For this size steak you want to begin cooking them between 15 and 20 minutes before you want to eat so they have time to properly rest.” “Ooh, I just love that sizzle.”

He plated everything once finished and brought it out to his dining table, “Dinner is served mademoiselle.”

You returned to the home screen of the console before heading to the table, “William, this all looks delicious. Thank you so much.”

“It is the least I could do for you helping me.”

“I have just one question.”

A wave of anxiety rushed through his body, what could you be wanting to ask, “And that is?”

“Do you always talk like you’re on a cooking show? I assume you’re too busy helping me in class to do it then, though.”

William blushed in embarrassment, he didn’t think you heard him, “Only when I get in the zone. It happens when shopping for ingredients too. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable, I thought you couldn’t hear over the game.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when you gave him a kind smile, “Don’t be crazy, William. I found it adorable.”

The meal was a mix of comfortable silence and questions about each other. As the night progressed, William thought a great friendship could be blooming, he was glad since he didn’t have many friends.

When it came time to begin his lesson, he did his best to keep in mind that it is all right to not know what to do and not to get as frustrated as he had in the past. The way you taught helped him really understand what to do, and he improved so much that you decided to have him try a round without help. When he helped his squad win, your excitement got the best of you; you leapt toward him and wrapped your arms around his shoulders, pecking his cheek.

“Will! You did it! Ahhh! I’m so proud!”

He froze, you just kissed his cheek and hugged him. Maybe it could be more than a friendship, but he wasn’t going to push it.

When you realized what you did you gasped and stood up, “I’m so sorry William. I don’t know what came over me. I’ll, uhh, go now. See you Thursday.”

His senses quickly returned and he stood up too, “Don’t go (y/n), it is all right,” he leaned down to kiss your cheek, “We still have cookies and ice cream to eat.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr, awkward-radar-tech!  
> Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment or message me on Tumblr, I like to know what people think of my fics!


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